This invention relates to a torque limiting clutch, referred to hereinafter as being "of the kind specified" comprising first and second drive members mounted for rotation about an axis, a torque transmitting means, to transmit torque between said chive member up to a predetermined value, comprising a torque transmitting member carried by, and movable relative to, said first drive member between an operative position in which the torque transmitting member is in torque transmitting engagement with a torque transmitting abutment of said second drive member and an inoperative position in which the torque transmitting member is not in torque transmitting engagement with said abutment, connection means to act on said torque transmitting member with a biasing force applied to the connection means, by a main biasing means to urge said torque transmitting member into said operative position and the torque transmitting member being displaced against said biasing force, when the torque exceeds said pre-determined value, into said inoperative position and in which position the torque transmitting member is not acted upon by said biasing force.
A torque limiting clutch of the kind specified suffers from the disadvantage that re-engagement of the clutch after disengagement, in which the torque transmitting member is moved to said inoperative position, requires manual resetting of the clutch by pushing or hitting the torque transmitting member back into its operative position.
Such a clutch also suffers from the disadvantage that if it is desired to disengage the clutch manually this cannot be done conveniently without disturbing the magnitude of the biasing force since to permit the member to be moved from its operative position to its inoperative position requires release of the connection force from the biasing means.